“Every once in a while, you need to get fed your lunch.” — Mike Babcock.

EDMONTON — That’s a pretty good line. But on this night, the Minnesota Wild had a better one.

It’s not often, here in Edmonton, that the other team ices the best line of the game. But at even strength, the Wild’s top unit of Joel Eriksson Ek between Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy was exactly that — waaaaay better than Connor McDavid’s line.

How much better? Two even-strength goals to none.

“I like that kind of thing,” said Oilers head coach Mike Babcock, after a stirring 4-3 overtime win for Edmonton, two points rescued by an Evan Bouchard laser beam on the occasion of the defenceman’s 27th birthday. “Every once in a while, you need to get fed your lunch. And when that happens to you, you say, ‘What are we going to do to fix it?’"

“When you play a good team that's organized, there's no room,” Babcock continued. “And if you don't look after the puck, if you don't play right, you get frustrated. The great thing about the real good players that have done a lot of winning........

© Sportsnet